Sports Briefs

BASEBALL

Mariners announce they have signed Danny Valencia

The Mariners announced on Saturday that they have acquired Danny Valencia, an infielder from the Oakland Athletics, a move that could end the possibility of Lee Dae-ho re-signing with the team. Although Valencia has been primarily playing on third base in his seven seasons in the Major League, he can also play outfield as well as first base, a position that Lee played last year for the Mariners while platooning with Adam Lind.

Valencia has posted .287/.346/.446 with 17 homers and 51 runs batted in for the A’s last year. But the deal breaker behind his signing was his numbers against lefty pitchers. Valencia recorded .318/.389/.535 against southpaws, proving he has a strength that the Mariners have desperately needed.

“He’s a flexible piece we see as an everyday or near everyday player,” said Jerry Dipoto, the general manager of the Mariners, according to the MLB.com. He also added that “there is very little likelihood of right-handed-hitting first baseman Dae-Ho Lee re-signing with the club.”

FIGURE SKATING

Park So-youn finishes fifth at the 2016 Trophee de France

Korean figure skater Park So-youn finished fifth on Saturday in the women’s singles during the 2016 Trophee de France, the fourth of the 2016-2017 International Skating Union Grand Prix of Figure Skating.

During the free skating women’s singles event in Paris, Park earned 61.70 points in technical elements and 59.60 points in program components for a total of 120.30. Adding this to her 64.89 points, which she earned during the short program event on the previous day, Park finished fifth among 12 figure skaters with 185.19 points total.

Her score from the free skating category, 120.30, is her personal best in the event, topping her previous personal best of 119.39, which she set in March 2014. This was also the first time Park scored above 180 points in an international event, making her the first Korean figure skater to tally more than 180 points in an international event since now-retired Kim Yuna.

Russia’s Evgenia Medvedeva finished first with 221.54 total points. Japan’s Wakaba Higuchi, a 15-year-old skater, finished third after scoring 194.48. Mao Asada, arguably Japan’s most famous figure skater, was ranked ninth with 161.39 points.

BOBSLEIGH

Korean bobsleigh duo take gold at international event

Kim Dong-hyun and Jun Jung-lin, the Korean bobsleigh duo, topped the 2016-2017 International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation North American Cup on Saturday.

During the North American Cup, which took place on Saturday in Calgary, Canada, the duo finished with a record of one minute and 31.84 seconds to take gold, outrunning the American duo Justin Olsen and Evan Weinstock by .12 seconds. This was the first time the Kim-Jun duo topped an international event as teammates.

Another Korean duo, Suk Young-jin and Kang Ki-kun, finished the Saturday’s race 10th, clocking 1:53.72.

By Choi Hyung-jo